Shirin Ebadi Quotes (23 Quotes)

What is important is that one utilizes one's intellect and not to be 100 percent sure about one's convictions. One should always leave room for doubt.

I'm an optimist by nature and I hope that this case will be settled fairly inside Iran by Iranian judges. But should that not prove the case, my duty as a lawyer is to follow this case until my dying day and I will use all means, domestic and international.

Sadly the job security of lawyers has been ruined, so they are less willing to defend political defendants.

Human rights is a universal standard. It is a component of every religion and every civilization.

We demand a non-violent world where human security is the basis of our common global security. People have the right to live in a world where the basic needs of all peoples are addressed. No more military attacks. No more war.

Lawyers have a dangerous job in Iran.

I maintain that nothing useful and lasting can emerge from violence.

The Iranian government intends to use the nuclear program for peaceful purposes, but must convince international public opinion of that.

The idea of cultural relativism is nothing but an excuse to violate human rights.

My aim is to show that those governments that violate the rights of people by invoking the name of Islam have been misusing Islam.

Whenever women protest and ask for their rights, they are silenced with the argument that the laws are justified under Islam. It is an unfounded argument. It is not Islam at fault, but rather the patriarchal culture that uses its own interpretations to justify whatever it wants.

The US will not solve the nuclear problem by threatening military strikes or by dragging Iran before the UN Security Council. Although a vast majority of Iranians despise the country's hard-liners and wish for their downfall, they also support its nuclear program because it has become a source of pride for an old nation with a glorious history.

How can you defy fear? Fear is a human instinct, just like hunger. Whether you like it or not, you become hungry. Similarly with fear. But I have learned to train myself to live with this fear.

I hope the example of Saddam Hussein will give a lesson to leaders of other countries where human rights are not respected.

Democracy doesn't recognize east or west; democracy is simply people's will. Therefore, I do not acknowledge that there are various models of democracy; there is just democracy itself.

Terrorism is based on two major pillars One is injustice, and the other is a certainty of attitude, the notion that their version of the story is the correct one. This way of thinking - this self-certainty - is based on not being educated.

Lawyers should not be charged with the same crimes as their clients. Trials related to political charges are not in accordance with human rights.

No American soldier should be allowed to set foot on Iranian soil, regardless of the criticism we have of the Iranian government.

When a person is humiliated, when his rights are being violated, and he does not have the proper education, naturally he gravitates toward terrorism.

The condition of women in Islamic societies as a whole is also far from desirable. However, we should acknowledge that there are differences. In certain countries, the conditions are much better and in others much worse.

When we criticize in Iran the actions of the government, the fundamentalists say that we and the Bush Administration are in the same camp. The funny thing is that human rights activists and Mr. Bush can never be situated in the same group.

Women are the victims of this patriarchal culture, but they are also its carriers. Let us keep in mind that every oppressive man was raised in the confines of his mother's home.

We must not enable anyone to impose his personal view regarding religion on others by force, oppression, or pressure.